System and method for providing emergency notification services via enhanced directory assistance

ABSTRACT

An enhanced directory assistance system includes a database for storing at least one subscriber emergency profile. The subscriber emergency profile has one or more instructions to be carried out in the case of an emergency and also has an identifier for identifying a mobile device of a corresponding subscriber. An operator terminal receives an incoming communication from one or more callers from the mobile device of the subscriber, such that when the communication is received, the operator terminal recalls the subscriber emergency profile and carries out the one or more instructions.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to and claims the benefit of priority fromU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/709,472, filed on Aug. 17,2005, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to directory assistance. Moreparticularly, the present invention is related to providing enhancedemergency services using directory assistance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For its owner, the cell phone or other such mobile device is anindispensable lifeline at times of crisis, reuniting loved onesseparated by unforeseen events at the touch of a button. But for membersof the emergency services who make life-and-death decisions, the mobilephone address book poses a conundrum: Which of the numbers stored intheir electronic address book should they call to reach a casualty'snext of kin?

According to members of the emergency services, paramedics, police andfirefighters often waste valuable time trying to figure out which namein a mobile phone to call when disaster strikes. They must look throughwallets, or scroll through mobile address books for clues. Many peopleidentify their spouse by name in their mobile device, making themindistinguishable from other entries. Sometimes, dialing the number for‘Mom’ or ‘Dad’ might not be appropriate, particularly if they areelderly, or suffer from ill health.

Mobile phone users are being urged by various emergency serviceorganizations to put the acronym ICE (“in case of emergency”) as anentry in their address book. This entry then lists a name and contacttelephone number that they would like an attending emergency serviceworker to contact as in the event of an emergency such as a caraccident. A typical entry might read “ICE—Dad (555) 555-5555” or“ICE—Alison (666) 666-6666.” These entries would give paramedics a wayof getting hold of the appropriate person within a few seconds.

However, even though emergency service providers may wish to contact arelative or friend in the case of an emergency, their primary goal isnot arranging for communications with the victim, but rather, to takecare of all the minimum basic disaster relief, such as getting thepatient to the hospital, etc. The one call to the ICE listing in theaddress book is only to let at least one person know of the event, andpossibly for getting instructions for medical care of an unconsciouspatient.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention looks to provide an additional level ofcommunication in times of emergency beyond a simple call to the ICElisting. In the present invention, a subscriber to the enhanceddirectory assistance system of the present invention is able tomaintain, among other features, an address book in their cellular devicethat, in addition to the standard entries, also includes an entryidentified as an ICE contact. However, unlike prior art systems, whenthe ICE contact or 9-1-1 is dialed by a user, the directory assistancesystem is contacted and one or more pre-defined functions, set by thesubscriber, are carried out by the directory assistance system.Furthermore, a subscriber to the service may provide additionalinstructions on both the manner and content contained in the messages tobe sent upon the ICE listing being contacted.

For example, in a first embodiment of the present invention, when thenumber of ICE is dialed, the ICE enabled directory assistance system iscontacted and a set of predefined emergency functions are carried outeither by an automated platform or by a live operator. In suchsituations it is contemplated that subscribers will set the ICE listingto a specified contact number which connects the caller directly to thesystem which immediately recognizes the call as an emergency. It isfurther contemplated that a hot/panic button may be added or activatedon the subscribers mobile device for use in directly dialing an operatorassisted ICE number instead of first searching through the mobile deviceaddress book.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a subscriber may set upa predefined set of functions to be carried out by the directoryassistance platform in the case of a caller dialing 9-1-1 on thesubscribers' cellular telephone. Here, when the user dials 9-1-1, inaddition to being connected immediately to the local emergency services,the directory assistance system is also contacted to carry out apredefined set of actions, such as communications to third parties. Thecall to the directory assistance system does not interfere with the9-1-1, call but acts as a second or simultaneous communication from themobile device.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a subscriber may set upa predefined set of functions to be carried out by the directoryassistance platform. Such an ICE number is simply a typical ICE listingsuch as a relative, friend or co-worker. Here, when the user dials thenumber corresponding to the ICE listing, in addition to being connectedimmediately to the ICE listing, the directory assistance system is alsocontacted to carry out a predefined set of actions, such ascommunications with third parties. The call to the directory assistancesystem does not interfere with the ICE call but acts a second orsimultaneous communication from the mobile device.

In yet another example of the present invention, the system may employ alocation device, either in the subscriber's mobile phone oralternatively in another independent device, such that when a conditionoccurs, a predefined emergency procedure is carried out by the directoryassistance platform. An exemplary condition may include but is notlimited to moving beyond a certain distance from a particularpre-defined location.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the system may alsoenable a subscriber mobile device to activate a predefined emergencyprocedure based on a sensor event, such as heat, smoke, or accelerometersensor. Any deviation from a predefined range of signals provided by thesensors triggers the dialing of a number for ICE in accordance with theinvention.

The predefined emergency functions outlined above generally includesending predefined messages to contacts designated by the user in orderto convey messages. Such messages may be automated to deliver theinformation in various formats including formats that have beenconverted for example, text to speech, speech to text, email, fax,instant messaging, or SMS.

Thus the mobile device or other such emergency sensors included thereinor coupled thereto, and then through automation or a manual process,delivers the wireless owners/subscriber's pre-defined emergencyinstructions to the appropriate parties through multimodal means asoutlined in detail below.

To this end the present invention provides for an enhanced directoryassistance system includes a database for storing at least onesubscriber emergency profile. The subscriber emergency profile has oneor more instructions to be carried out in the case of an emergency andalso has an identifier for identifying a mobile device of acorresponding subscriber. An operator terminal receives an incomingcommunication from one or more callers from the mobile device of thesubscriber, such that when the communication is received, the operatorterminal recalls the subscriber emergency profile and carries out theone or more instructions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification.The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation,together with features, objects, and advantages thereof may best beunderstood by reference to the following detailed description when readwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ICE enabled directory assistance system,in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary subscriber mobile device, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a subscriber account profile with ICEinstructions as stored in the subscriber account database from FIG. 3,in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an alternative subscriber account profile withICE instructions as stored in the subscriber account database from FIG.3, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the operation of a call placed to ICE enableddirectory assistance system of FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an exemplary subscriber mobile device withsensors, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a subscriber account profile with sensorinstructions as stored in the subscriber account database from FIG. 1,in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a subscriber account profile with locationinstructions as stored in the subscriber account database from FIG. 1,in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the operation of a sensor/location eventnotice to ICE enabled directory assistance system of FIG. 1, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 1, anICE enabled directory assistance system 10 is shown. System 10 includesa Gateway/switch module 12 configured to receiving incomingcommunications from a mobile device 30 of a subscriber 11. It isunderstood that system 10 may be a stand alone system or instead may bea subset of a larger traditional directory assistance platform.

It is understood that gateway/switch module 12, and system 10 ingeneral, is capable of handling all types of incoming telephony andmessaging communications including, but not limited to PSTN (PublicSwitched Telephone Network), VoIP (Voice over IP), PLMN (Public LandMobile Network), SMS, IM HTML, e-mail. For the purposes of illustrationincoming messages to system 10 are described as originating from amobile device such as a cellular telephone or other such wireless PDAs(Personal Digital Assistant).

Gateway/switch module 12 of system is coupled to an operator platform 14configured to handle incoming calls to system 10. Operator platform 14in the context of the present invention is understood to be any platformcapable of handling incoming calls and performing the below describedemergency support functions. For example, operator platform 14 might bea live customer service operator bank or alternatively it may be anautomated response platform or some combination of the two. For thepurposes of illustration, operator terminal 14 is discussed as beingstaffed by a live operator.

Operator platform 14 is coupled to a subscriber emergency instructiondatabase 16. Emergency database 16 is configured to store a number ofsubscriber profiles 100, discussed in more detail below. When a callercontacts system 10 and the call is routed to operator platform 14 as anemergency call, the profile 100 for that subscriber 11 is recalled andoperator platform 14 completes the desired instructions. A more detaileddescription of the call flow to system 10 is also described in moredetail below.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2, asubscriber mobile device 30 is shown having a screen 32 for displayingan address book 33, a location unit 34, such as a GPS unit, and apanic/help button 36, although the invention is not limited to such anembodiment. For example, in accordance with another embodiment, mobiledevice 30 may include only address book 33. Screen 32 and address book33 are contemplated as the standard screen and address book on anytypical mobile device 30 such as a cellular telephone or cellularcapable PDA.

Location unit 34 is an optional embedded unit for sending the locationof mobile device 30 to system 10. Such location units 34 are typicallyGPS chips embedded within the mobile device, however any form ofsatellite or land based remote location systems can be supported. It iscontemplated that the present invention, instead of using a locationfrom mobile device 30, can instead use location information derived fromother sources such as triangulation by the mobile carrier. However, forthe purposes of illustration location information discussed in thepresent invention is based on information from internal location unit34.

Panic/help button 36 is an optional button or key on mobile device 30that is assigned the sole function of an emergency request. It iscontemplated that rather than the user identifying an ICE number inaddress book 33, they can simply assign the number to panic/help key 36.

Turning now to the subscriber profile 100, in one embodiment of thepresent invention as illustrated in FIG. 3, subscriber 11 is able todesignate a list of operations to be carried out in the case of anemergency call placed to the ICE number or 9-1-1 from their mobiledevice 30. It is understood that 9-1-1 is an exemplary emergency number,however, the invention is equally applicable to any emergency telephonecontact system used worldwide.

Profile 100 includes a Subscriber name field 102, a subscriber ID numberfield 104 and an emergency instructions field 106. Subscriber name field102 simply includes the name of subscriber 11 and subscriber ID field104 includes an identification number used by system 10 to retrieve theappropriate profile 100 in the case of an emergency call to system 10.

For example, subscriber ID field 104 is typically filled using thetelephone number (ANI—Automatic Number Identification MIN—MobileIdentification Number) of the mobile device, such that when a call isplaced to system 10 it can recognize the incoming number and pull theappropriate profile 100 from database 16 and send it to operatorterminal 14 for carrying out the pre-defined instructions. It isunderstood that ID field 104 may include additional forms of ID foridentifying the appropriate profile 100 including e-mail, IP address orother forms of device/service identifying codes that are associated withmobile device 30.

Emergency instructions field 106 includes the set of instructions to becarried out by operator terminal 14 when an emergency call is placed tosystem 10. The instructions are provided to system 10 by subscriber 11by any number of means including but not limited to e-mail, telephone,HTTP (web access), etc., and can be updated regularly by subscriber 11.

Typically instructions field 106 includes one or more actions to betaken by operator terminal 14 once receiving the emergency call. Suchactions may be to make a telephone call, send a facsimile, send ane-mail, etc. The number of possible instructions are too numerous togive examples, but any basic communication based instructions are withinthe contemplation of the present invention.

For example, in FIG. 3, profile 100 includes three instructions to becarried out by operator terminal 14 in the case of an emergency call tosystem 10 as pre-set by subscriber 11. In this example, upon receivingan emergency call from mobile device 30, system 10 pulls profile 100 forsubscriber 11 from database 16 and first calls “Relative A” notifyingthem of the emergency. Next, a facsimile is sent to the primary carephysician notifying them of the emergency. Finally, the operatorplatform sends an e-mail to “Co-worker A” also notifying them of thesituation. If operator terminal 14 receives any pertinent medicalinformation from the caller, such information can be forwarded, asappropriate to the various parties to be notified of the emergency asinstructed by field 106, particularly to any medical persons such asphysicians.

In another embodiment of the present invention profile 100 may include amedical information field 120 that includes blood type, prior medicalconditions, allergies, medications, etc. Although this field is shownonly in profile 100 it is understood that such a field may be optionallyincluded any one of the profiles discussed below.

In one embodiment of the present invention, in addition to simplyproviding instructions to make a series of communications to variousparties, subscriber 11 may further direct the actual text of the messagebeing sent. For example, subscriber 11 may direct the message to“Relative A” to read: “Your son has just dialed 9-1-1 from his cellulartelephone, please contact him immediately. We can also provide you hislocation.” Likewise, the message to primary care physician may read:“Dr. Smith, your patient Mr. Jones has suffered a medical incident,please attempt to contact emergency personnel via his cellular telephone555-555-5556.”

Furthermore, in order to stress that the situation is an emergency, thedirectory assistance system, when carrying out the predefined tasks,such as contacting loved ones or personal physicians, may preface thecall or electronic message with an “EMERGENCY” tag, similar to a subjectheading on an e-mail. This will allow the contacted person or persons toknow that the incoming message or call is of an urgent nature. In thisarrangement a text display to the user on their cellular phone or otherdigital display land line phone will be a highly visible indication ofan emergency. This message may even be coupled with a notification for aspecial ring tone that identifies an emergency, should the calledparty's device accept such instructions.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the heading or text messageof an emergency may be supplied by the directory assistance service,either typed in by a customer service representative, or generated by anautomated DA platform. Alternatively, the subject header for theemergency may be generated by the land-line carrier or MSO (MobileSwitching Operator).

In fact, such subject message headers, either produced by serviceprovider or the DA platform, may not have to relate to an emergency atall, but instead may be used for other purposes as a global “subject”heading. This would depend on the detail provided by the caller, as notall emergencies are equal in gravity. Such global header topics mayinclude but are not limited to: “WORK” for incoming calls from work orwork related sources, “NON-URGENT” for calls that do not need to beaddressed immediately, “SCHOOL” for calls originating from a child'sschool, and other such subject lines. As an additional features, themessage headers may even be generated directly by the caller, if the DAplatform, service provider, caller and called party's equipment allowsfor such messaging.

The following are possible scenarios that may employ such a service mayinclude but are not limited to:

Scenarios.

Missing or injured child, pet, adult or senior

Accidents while traveling Nationally or Internationally

Unconscious person unable to communicate

Natural Disasters (Hurricanes, Tornados, Floods,

Tsunamis, Fires)

Terrorist Acts Nationally or Internationally

Deceased person used to locate a next of kin or point of contact

Locate or alert an owner of a lost pet through with wireless location(GPS) sensor

It is understood that the present invention contemplates a call tosystem 10 in the case of an emergency. Thus, many times the call tosystem 10 will be placed by a caller (other than the subscriber) ratherthan the subscriber 11, usually because subscriber 11 is incapacitated.As such, operator terminal 14 may not have a great amount of detailother than the fact that an emergency has occurred. On the other hand ifthe caller (or subscriber 11 if available to make the ICE call) givessufficient information, operator terminal 14 may include an appropriateamount of additional information regarding the nature of the emergency(car accident, medical, fire etc.) in their pre-arranged communicationsas set up by subscriber 11. It is further contemplated that locationunit 34, such as GPS unit 34 may, regardless of the amount ofinformation provided by the caller, at least provide operator terminal14 with a substantially accurate location of mobile device 30 at thetime of the call.

In fact, in another embodiment of the present invention as illustratedin FIG. 4, profile 200 may be setup by subscriber 11, having alternatesets of instructions for different emergency situations. Here, profile200 includes the same name field 202 and ID field 204 as profile 100.However, profile 200 maintains multiple instruction fields 206 a-206 x,each used for a different type of emergency.

In the present example, subscriber 4 has listed 4 different instructionsfields 206 a-206 d. Instruction field 206 a is for use when there is acar accident. Instruction field 206 b is for use when subscriber 11 hasa medical emergency (possibly for a known condition). Instruction field206 c is for use when there is home emergency such as fire orwater/weather damage and instruction field 206 d is for use as a genericinstruction, assuming the caller (or subscriber 11) does not provide thedetails of the emergency.

Field 206 a provides instructions to contact “Relative A”, then to sendan e-mail to “Co-worker A,” then to send a facsimile to the primary carephysician and to finally, contact the auto-insurance company. Field 206b provides instructions to contact “Relative A”, then send an e-mail to“Co-worker A,” then send a facsimile to the primary care physician, thensend an e-mail to “Medical Specialist A” and finally, contact the healthinsurance company. Field 206 c provides instructions to contact“Relative A” and to contact the homeowner insurance company. Field 206 dprovides instructions to contact “Relative A” and send an e-mail to“Co-worker A.” It is understood that any similar contact instructionsare also within the contemplation of the present invention.

Thus, according the present invention, during an emergency situation,system 10 is able to contact pre-identified individuals or groups asidentified by subscriber 11 and notifying them about the emergencysituation. Pre-identified parties to be contacted as stored in emergencycontact instructions field 106 may include but are not limited toinclude: spouse, children, parents, guardian, care giver, home healthmonitoring service, doctor or other licensed practitioners such as a midwife or other individuals or groups.

Turning now to the operation of system 10, as illustrated in flow chartFIG. 5, at a first step 300, subscriber 11 designates an ICE number intheir address book 33 of their mobile device 30. Such a designation mayin occur in any one of several fashions. As noted above, subscriber 11may set the ICE to contact system 10 directly in which case the numberis set to a particular emergency contact number, such as 1-800-xxx-xxxx,for system 10. This number not only contacts system 10 but also isrecognized by gateway/switch 12 as an emergency call so that it isappropriately routed to emergency operator platform 14 as opposed to ageneric operator platform in the case where system 10 also providesother non-emergency services such as standard directory assistance. Itis contemplated that instead of an ICE listing in address book 33, sucha contact instruction may be programmed into help/panic button 36.

Alternatively, if subscriber 11 sets the ICE to be a standard telephonenumber of a friend or co-worker, they can set their mobile device 30 tosimultaneously or subsequently contact system 10. Such a feature may besupported by mobile device 30, the mobile carrier, or may be provided asa software plug-in provided by system 10. Similarly, subscriber 11 mayset their mobile device 30 to simultaneously or subsequently contactsystem 10 after a 9-1-1 call is placed.

Regardless of how the ICE contact is set in step 300, in step 302,subscriber 11 sets the various instructions to be followed in the caseof an emergency call as outlined above. This can be done directly overthe phone with operator terminal 14 or via a direct on-line Internetconnection 15 with system 10 that allows subscriber 11 to access/modifyprofile 100. At step 304, system 10 saves profile 100 to database 16 forfuture retrieval.

Assuming the event of an emergency, at step 310 a caller (or subscriber11) contacts system 10 according to the methods set by subscriber 11 atstep 300. Next, at step 312, system 10 receives the call atswitch/gateway 12, recognizes that the call is an emergency call androutes the call to emergency operator terminal 20.

At step 314, operator terminal uses the mobile number of mobile device30 and pulls the corresponding profile 100 (or 200) from database 16.Finally, at step 316, operator terminal carries out the instructions inemergency instructions field 106 as set by subscriber 11.

In another embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 6,system 10 may be further enhanced to carry out emergency contactinstructions in the event of a sensor event detected in mobile device30. As shown in FIG. 6, in addition to the components illustrated inFIG. 2, mobile device 30 further maintains a sensor module 38 such as asmoke detector, CO sensor, motion sensor etc. Such sensors 38 may beincluded in the mobile device 30 as purchased or may be coupled to themobile device as add-on components.

It is contemplated that similar to the instructions provided bysubscriber 11 in profile 100 or 200, subscriber 11, may also useembedded sensor module 38 or even location unit 34 to trigger anemergency contact with system 10 to carry out a predefined set ofinstructions.

For example, subscriber 11 may set up an emergency procedure to becarried out by the directory assistance platform 10 in the event thatthe mobile device 30 (GPS enabled tag, card, or other similar device)reaches a location beyond a certain pre-set radius from a centrallocation. For example, if subscriber 11 has a child they may give them acellular telephone mobile device 30 (or mobile device that is GPSenabled) and instruct them not to leave 3 blocks from their house. Ifsystem 10 (or the device 30 if internally programmed as such) detectsvia GPS that mobile device 30 has left that radius, a call to system 10is automatically sent so that emergency operator terminal 14 caninitiate the pre-defined tasks which may include placing a notificationcall to subscriber's 11 home phone or another cellular phone owned bysubscriber 11.

Similarly a pet collar (mobile device 30 with at least a location unit34 and some communication ability) may be placed on a pet dog such thatif it leaves a certain radius from home, then the predefined tasks setby subscriber 11 are automatically performed by directory assistancesystem 10 such as calling the subscriber and possibly sending acustomized page or text message to be displayed directly on the dogcollar to assist local k-9 services in returning the dog.

In a first exemplary embodiment of such location triggered emergencyresponses, as illustrated in FIG. 7, subscriber 11 contacts system 10and sets up an emergency location profile 400 having a subscriber namefield 402 and subscriber ID field 404, similar to profile 100. However,profile 400 maintains a location notation emergency event field 406 thatdefines an event that triggers an emergency reaction and an emergencyinstructions field 408 that are to be carried out once the event infield 406 is met. It is contemplated here that subscriber 11 requeststhat mobile device 30 be monitored by system 10 (or, if supported,instructs mobile device 30 to send periodic pings to system 10 for selfmonitoring purposes).

In the present example, event field 406 is set with a triggering eventof 5 miles from location “X.” Such a location boundary can be alat/longitude or may be based on a geo-coded street address. Emergencyinstructions field 408 in the present example has been set by subscriber11 to place a call to telephone number 555 555-5555, such as the numberof another subscriber cellular phone apart from the monitored mobiledevice 30, and to give the pre-set message: “Relative A has movedoutside of the designated area.”

As with profiles 100 and 200, subscriber 11 can modify profile 400either telephonically through operator terminal 14 or on-line via directinternet link 15.

In another similar arrangement of the present invention, mobile device30 of the subscriber may employ sensors 38 for sensing certainconditions and initiate contact with the processing center to initiate apredefined set of tasks.

The conditions to be monitored can be substantially and possiblyrelevant conditions. For example, the sensors may monitor heart rate,temperature, air bag deployment, smoke or other air contaminants (CO),location, sudden acceleration, and other conditions. These sensors 38may be utilized to determine potential emergency situations. As notedabove, sensors 38 can be incorporated directly into mobile device 30 orcommunicate remotely with mobile device 30 via Bluetooth or other localremote signaling.

For example, an accelerometer sensor 38 can trigger mobile device 30 tosignal subscriber 11, requesting verification to system 10 of the safetyof subscriber 11. If the mobile device 30 is a wireless phone, profile400 can be arranged such that if sensor 38 reaches a triggering point,system 10 will ring mobile device 30, and if subscriber 11 does notanswer the ring, an operator at system 10 or wireless device 30 itselfcan be ordered to initiate automatic communications with system 10,emergency services (9-1-1), and pre-determined contacts from the addressbook on the wireless device.

As discussed above, when the system of the present invention initiates acontact as per the instructions of subscriber 11, the call or message tothe intended recipient may use a notice included in the message such as“EMERGENCY” or “EMERGENCY—NOTIFICATION EVENT IDENTIFIED.” Thisimmediately allows the called party to identify that the call isimportant and is originating from the ICE instructions.

In a second exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 8, subscriber11 contacts system 10 and sets up an emergency sensor event profile 500having a subscriber name field 502 and subscriber ID field 504, similarto profile 100. However, profile 500 maintains a sensor event field 506that defines an event that triggers an emergency reaction and anemergency instructions field 508 that are to be carried out once theevent in field 506 is met. It is contemplated here that subscriber 11requests that mobile device 30 be monitored by system 10 (or, ifsupported, instructs mobile device 30 to send periodic pings to system10 for self monitoring purposes).

In the present example, it is contemplated that mobile device 30includes a CO alarm sensor 38, which maintains some predeterminedthreshold for CO levels. Event field 506 is set is set so that thetriggering event is receiving an alarm signal from mobile device 30generated by CO alarm sensor 38. Emergency instructions field 508 in thepresent example has been set by subscriber 11 to place a call 9-1-1 andnotify them of the location and reason for the call (high CO levels) andthen send a second call to “relative A”

The operation of such features as shown in flow chart FIG. 9 show anexemplary process of generating either profile 400 or 500 and subsequentactivation of the emergency instructions in fields 408 or 508.

At a first step 600, subscriber 11 contacts system 11 and sets up asensor or location profile 500 or 400, indicating the attached mobiledevice 30 and giving their name for fields 402, 404, 502 and 504 asdiscussed above. Next, at step 602 subscriber 11 first sets thetriggering event, either location based or sensor 38 based, that willset of the conducting of the emergency instructions. It is contemplatedat this step will also include whether mobile device 30 willperiodically ping system 10 to monitor location or sensor 38, or ifsystem 10 will “check” by sending a OK? request to mobile device 30 andwait for a reply.

At step 604, subscriber 11 sets the various instructions to be followedin the case sensor 38 or location unit 34 registers an event beyond thethreshold event set in step 602. This can be done directly over thephone with operator terminal 14 or via a direct on-line internetconnection 15 with system 10 that allows subscribe 11 to access/modifyprofiles 400 and 500. At step 604, system 10 saves profile 100 todatabase 16 for future retrieval.

Assuming the triggering event occurs, at step 610 the system registersthe triggering event occurred and at step 612 it recalls thecorresponding profile 400 or 500 from database 16. Finally, at step 614,operator terminal 14 carries out the instructions in emergencyinstructions field 408 or 508 as set by subscriber 11 in step 604.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

1. An enhanced directory assistance system, said system comprising: a database for storing at least one subscriber emergency profile, said subscriber emergency profile having one or more instructions to be carried out in the case of an emergency and also having an identifier for identifying a mobile device of a corresponding subscriber; an operator terminal for receiving an incoming communication from one or more callers from the mobile device of said subscriber; wherein when said communication is received, said operator terminal recalls said subscriber emergency profile and carries out said one or more instructions.
 2. The enhanced directory assistance system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said identifier for identifying a mobile device of a corresponding subscriber is the mobile device telephone number.
 3. The enhanced directory assistance system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said caller is someone other than said subscriber. 4-40. (canceled) 